British spelling in the USA

If only life were that simple! English spelling is seldom consistent. No, there's no reason why "amoeba" looks better than "ameba", yet "fetus" looks better than "foetus", but, to American eyes, that's just the way it is and it's just not going to change anytime soon.

Don't get me wrong; I'm all for spelling reform and getting some kind of consistency in our spelling, but that doesn't change the fact that I'd still look silly if I wrote "ameba" rather than "amoeba". Since I don't think it's going to make any real difference, I'll just stick with "amoeba".

- Kef

Guest Thu Jun 07, 2007 7:23 am GMT

<<I believe 'theatre' is the traditional spelling in the US but ‘theater’ is a newer form to bring it in line with 'center' (and I suppose 'enter).>>

I have posted a link here before to pages from Cockeram's dictionary 1647 which has the spellings "theater" and "center". Unfortunately the link doesn't seem to work at the moment so you'll just have to take may word for it.

On another note, please don't anyone take the the spellings offered by Seattle's software overlords as gospel- there are many mistakes I have spotted in the past such as "liase" instead of "liaise".

Gianna Wed Jun 13, 2007 9:44 pm GMT

English speakers of many nations live here.
Some of us haven't made the mental switchover.
and just my opinion...Manoeuver, Amoung, Favourite.
& Queue, Rubber and Dialogue are not wrong.

furrykef Wed Jun 13, 2007 10:09 pm GMT

"Amoung" is a hypercorrection. The correct spelling is "among" in all dialects.

amaro Thu Jun 14, 2007 12:49 am GMT

the correct spelling is "among" in all dialects.

nope, the correct spelling is ''amongst''
''among'' is an Americanism.

Josh Lalonde Thu Jun 14, 2007 1:16 am GMT

<<nope, the correct spelling is ''amongst''
''among'' is an Americanism.>>

The OED doesn't mention anything about 'among' as an Americanism, and quotes several British authors using it. The definition of 'amongst' is "=among".

"Guest Blessing Jim Thu Jun 14, 2007 3:47 am GMT

British accent and spelling stink in the U.S.A. They and I don't like them. Go, go, go back to those remote islands!

Kess Sat Jun 16, 2007 3:11 am GMT

The Introduction to the Gage Canadian Dictionary (1997) (p. vii) states:
''
Canadian usage is almost equally divided between -our and -or spellings in words such as colour/color and honour/honor, so both spellings are accepted by this Canadian dictionary as standard Canadian spelling.''

E. H. Sat Jun 16, 2007 11:51 am GMT

>>1. why is that some Americans still use the British spelling?>>

British spellings look more formal here. Some people use the American spelling normally, but when they want a document to look fancier they starting using British spellings like "programme", "colour", "centre", "cheque" etc.

furyrkef Sat Jun 16, 2007 3:33 pm GMT

<< Some people use the American spelling normally, but when they want a document to look fancier they starting using British spellings like "programme", "colour", "centre", "cheque" etc. >>

I'm not familiar with this phenomenon. I do know one American friend who uses (or used... I haven't seen her do it in a while) British spellings -- albeit a bit inconsistently -- but it was just a personal idiosyncracy rather than an attempt at formality.

Uriel Sat Jun 16, 2007 6:38 pm GMT

<<Some people use the American spelling normally, but when they want a document to look fancier they starting using British spellings like "programme", "colour", "centre", "cheque" etc.>>

I've NEVER seen that.

Guest Sun Jun 17, 2007 3:58 pm GMT

But that is true of non-natives. When I write something, I sometimes use both varieties in my posts even though my model is Amr. It just happens naturally because I am exposed to both versions.

Josh Lalonde Sun Jun 17, 2007 4:26 pm GMT

<<Canadian usage is almost equally divided between -our and -or spellings in words such as colour/color and honour/honor, so both spellings are accepted by this Canadian dictionary as standard Canadian spelling.''>>

I disagree. I haven't done any formal study of this, obviously, but I never see 'color' or 'honor' etc. in anything made in Canada. Canadian spelling in general though is probably about evenly split between British and American models: colour, centre, etc. like the UK; tire, curb, jail, etc. like the US.

Pub Lunch Sun Jun 17, 2007 11:19 pm GMT

Tyre and tire are both used in Britain. Tyre is used for errr the 'tyres' of cars and that whereas tire and tired are used for the description of a person that is 'TIRED'!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Kess Mon Jun 18, 2007 12:22 am GMT

''I disagree. I haven't done any formal study of this, obviously, but I never see 'color' or 'honor' etc. in anything made in Canada.''

Throughout Western's history, Senate has approved only 'honors' degree programs, never 'honours' programs.
In the western provinces, you see the 'or' orthography. The University of Alberta uses the 'ors' spelling in their degrees.